


Can't Sleep (I Can't Stay Awake)

by xxELF21xx



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Adam is a Godsend, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Radio, Based on a Tumblr Post, F/M, Gen, Insomnia, It's 3AM and I can't sleep, Pichiba this is for you, Radio Host Ryan, The Try Guys (mentioned), Tumblr Prompt, Worth It (mentioned), but andrew is here now, not much radio is happening tbh, so initially my asks only included steven
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-08
Updated: 2018-02-08
Packaged: 2019-03-15 03:50:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13604925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxELF21xx/pseuds/xxELF21xx
Summary: Shane has trouble sleeping. It may be insomnia, but it might not be insomnia. All he knows is that the radio guy on the twelve AM slot has a nice and soothing voice.Sara gets a few ideas after learning that Shane falls asleep to that voice.





	Can't Sleep (I Can't Stay Awake)

**Author's Note:**

> So I sent several asks to Pichiba over on Tumblr about Ryan's voice helping Shane get to sleep; which causes Sara to indirectly ask Ryan to continue helping Shane fall asleep as Shane has difficulty sleeping. Ryan, being the nice guy that he is, agrees immediately. 
> 
> Pichiba never posted those asks, but since he requested for me to write it: here you go!

Sara stares in disbelief as she takes in the rare sight of her boyfriend, asleep, on the couch. She blinks, slightly confused. 'Shane?' She whispers, but no answer comes back.  _How?_ She asks herself, fingers flexing and mind whirling with theories. 

It's known fact that Shane Madej has trouble sleeping. 

It takes almost  _four_ hours, minimum, for Shane to even feel slightly sleepy after laying in bed. On worse days, he doesn't get a  _wink_ of rest. The eyebags that hang onto his face serve as a cruel reminder of the situation. 

Sleeping for long periods of time is also difficult for him. At  _most,_ he can get a full two to three hours of sleep. At the very least, no sleep at all. 

Sara continues staring at her boyfriend, before snapping out of her trance and fetching a pillow and blanket for him. While laying his head to rest properly on the pillow, Sara notices that Shane's got his earphones in place, which strikes her as a little odd. Shane never did like putting in earphones when trying to sleep, since it makes him feel a little suffocated. 

'I should just ask him when he wakes up later,' she mutters, smoothing out his hair and kissing his cheek as a sign of goodnight. She takes in the scene of her sleeping partner once more before walking as silently as possible back to her room, making sure that her door was open by a small margin so she could check up on Shane later.

Sleep takes her easily, and, not for the first time, she wished that Shane had the chance to sleep easier.

 

 

She wakes up in cold sheets, the first sign that something isn't right. Quickly, she stumbles out of bed; tossing the blanket to the floor and grabbing her glasses off the bedside table (a little too hard), she runs out the room.

Normally, Shane would be sitting beside her, curled up above the blanket and reading a book under the orange glow of her book light, his hair would be a mess (as always), and his eyes would be slightly dimmer than usual, but his presence is always a constant. He would wait for Sara to wake up, greeting her "good morning, Sara! Had any good dreams?" in that cheery voice of his, before going into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. The door would have been closed shut. 

The door was as she left it the night before. 

Had something happened to Shane? Her heartbeat thunders in her ears as she walks through the corridor of their apartment, she stops in front of his bedroom. Or rather, the bedroom that was pretty much never used. Knocking on it sharply, she gains no response. Furrowing her brows, she opens the door softly. In her mind, she imagines Shane hunched over the table, scribbling down ideas or editing videos. However, she is met with an empty room. The blue sheets were in place like they've always been, undisturbed. The study table was pristine and neat, not a speck of dust in sight. The windows were open and the curtains were drawn back, but Shane wasn't in his room. 

She exits, closing the door behind her and speed walking into the living room.  _Could there have been a possibility that— ?_ Her thoughts take a nose dive when she sees Shane, lying still on the couch with a blanket draped over him and a pillow under his head, his chest moving up and down as soft breaths are heard. Shane. . . Shane had managed to sleep through the entire night! 

Gaping, Sara stands transfixed at the sight before her. 'Oh my God,' she breathes, her mind going back to the earphones. Was it something Shane was listening to the night before that helped him fall asleep? 

Could this be a one-time fluke, though? Maybe Shane's body was just so  _tired_ it forced Shane to sleep for a whole nine hours? 

Sara needed to investigate. She wants her boyfriend to be able to have a good night's rest, every night.

She walks over to his sleeping form, rummaging around quietly for a device that his earphones may be plugged into. His laptop comes into view, and it appears that Shane has been listening to a radio show called _Unsolved._

What was so special about this radio show that caused Shane to fall asleep? 

 

 

Shane wakes up an hour later; disoriented, he asks, 'did I — was I asleep from night till morn?' There is a weird tremor in his tone, confusion and fascination merged into one. Sara thinks they might both be tearing up a bit. 

'Yeah,' she says, unsure of how to answer. 

He looks at her, bright eyes fully rested. The eyebags have decreased slightly. 

 

 

This happens several more times throughout the week. Scratch that, it happened  _every time_ Shane tuned in to  _Unsolved._ Sara chalked it up to the host's calming and slightly sleep-inducing voice. Shane, for the most part, listens because he's genuinely interested in the true crime cases being presented in the show. 

'It's a pity I can't stay awake long enough to finish listening, though,' he laments, 'the  _one_ time I want to stay awake, I can't!' A sour look overtakes him. Sara laughs, 'there's always next time, Shane!' 

However, it's  _only_ the  _Unsolved: True Crime_ that helps Shane fall asleep. It's supernatural counterpart only fuels the fire and irritation inside of Shane, causing him to lose any will to sleep and, instead, grumble angrily to himself whilst glaring at the laptop screen. 

Sara sighs. Just when they thought they found a solution to help Shane's predicament, it disappears. Apparently,  _Unsolved_ does alternate "seasons" per fortnight.  _True Crime_ airs before, and  _Supernatural_ after. 

'Does this mean that I'll only be able to sleep every two weeks?' Shane jokes, 'because it's a big upgrade from sleeping for, like, two hours everyday!' She pretends to laugh along with the joke and ignore the returning signs of exhaustion that clings to him.

 

 

She resorts to contacting the producer of the radio channel for help. Since the radio host, a Ryan Bergara, doesn't have anything more than an email address and a Twitter username on his contacts page of the channel's website, is pretty much uncontactable (given how popular the show is and how many people follow him online, it's difficult to get noticed); Sara decides to email Adam Bianchi. 

Sara knows that the chances of her request getting fulfilled is pretty much nonexistent, but she  _has_ to try. 

**Mr. Bianchi,**

**Hello, I'm Sara Rubin. I have an... _odd_ request to ask of you. My boyfriend, who has difficulty sleeping, and can only stay asleep for short periods of time, was able to sleep like a normal person for the past two weeks. We have deduced that your radio's more popular late night shows,  _Unsolved: True Crime,_ was the cause of this. **

**Unfortunately, _Supernatural_ just causes my boyfriend much agitation and results in him being too worked up to try and even get sleepy. This version of the show has been on air for the last few days, and he's not been getting any sleep at all. **

**I just want my boyfriend to be able to sleep properly. Please, do you perhaps know how I could do that? I know it's a lot to take in, and that your radio channel has pretty much nothing to do with it, but I'm at my wits' end.** ****

**Thank you for your attention.**

**Sincerely,**

**Sara**

The email was rushed and not thought out at all, and was very rude-sounding, so it came as a shock when Sara recieved a reply in the next few hours while she was working.

The title reads  _Unsolved: True Crime_ and Adam's personal email address (not the radio channel's radio address, which she sent the email to) is seen at the top of her inbox.

**Sara,**

**Is it really you? Sara Rubin, the girl with purple curls that was in the art club? It's me, Adam! I was in the photography club, and we shared Home Ec and Art classes! We went to high school together?**

**I just wanted to make sure it's really you first, and if your number has changed. I think it's easier to call you rather than trade emails back and forth. This seems like a serious situation. My number hasn't changed, and if I recall, I gave you my number when we had to do a project together. If you've lost it, it's fine, I'll just email you my number**

**Regards,**

**Adam Bianchi**

Well, what a stroke of good luck Sara was having! Making sure that what she had to do for the time being was done, she picks up her phone and scrolls through her contact list. 

'Sara?' A soft spoken voice answers the call, she brightens up immediately. 'Adam! It's been such a long time! You haven't changed much at all!' She greets, and a huff is a reply. 'Neither have you,' he teases, she rolls her eyes. 'We should meet up sometime! I mean it — I owe you like, a thousand lunches. Thank you so much for responding. It means the world to me.' 

Adam is quiet for a moment. 'Sara, remember that one time I asked you for tips on how to film and photograph moving objects better?' She hums, not understanding the bridge between the two matters. 'Well, I used it for a competition and ended up winning. I promised that I would repay the favour — I think it's time I did.'

'Wait, what?!' She cries, 'that was nothing! I was just helping a friend out! I knew how much the competition meant to you! This, my situation can't be compared to yours!' 

'I'm pretty sure your boyfriend means more to you than the competition did to me, Sara.' Adam's voice is reassuring and firm, as always. 'Anyways, I've been thinking about a solution.' 

Sara's grip on her phone tightens. 'How about you record all of Ryan's  _True Crime?_ There's been so many episodes of it so far, it'll help your boyfriend to sleep until the next season is ready.' Adam's suggestion makes sense, 'however, you should note that  _Unsolved_ has a rest period of a few weeks ranging from three to seven weeks as Ryan and his team need to do their research. In the meantime,  _Worth It_ would be airing.' She frowns, 'but, that means that Shane —' She pauses, 'I'm just afraid that Shane might get tired of listening to the same things over again. He's quick to remember things, and gets bored of repetition. There isn't enough content to last the rest period?'

Her palms grow sweaty as she speaks, 'maybe, if it isn't too much, maybe you could get Mr Bergara to record him reading some stories? Kind of like bedtime storytelling, to be brutally honest.' Adam goes silent again, there's some rustling of paper, and some incomprehensible mumbling. 'Okay, okay — I'll get the idea over to Ryan. If there's any response, I'll text you.' 

She is ready to cry when Adam says those magical words. 'Thank you, so, so, much.' She chokes, tears escaping her eyes. 'Anything for an old friend, Sara,' Adam replies, bids her farewell, and they end the call.

 

* * *

 

Ryan is about to do a test run before starting  _Unsolved: Supernatural_ when Steven approaches him. 'Hey, Ryan!' The silver-haired male greets, crushing him into a hug. Ryan coughs a little, feeling all the air inside his lungs escape him. Ryan barely manages to hug Steven back when Steven pulls away, Andrew, Steven's co-host, nods at him with a fond smile. 'Steven! Andrew! What're you guys doing here? Aren't you guys supposed to be off doing research for the new season?' Andrew gives him an apologetic smile, 'sorry to say this; but Adam's called you in, says he has something important to discuss with you. Steven knows what's up, but he won't tell me.' Steven merely smiles, eyes crinkling in amusement. 'We're gonna cover you today. Do some new season promo, stuff like that. Adam wants you in his office in, say, three minutes?' 

With a nudge, Ryan is seen running out of the studio and through bustling corridors. He arrives a second before he's due, knocks the door, and enters. Ryan's never really interacted with Adam all that much; he knows the other man is a producer and cameraman for some projects, and that the execs made him oversee  _Worth It_ and  _Unsolved,_ make sure the live streams that go online work properly, stuff like that. Andrew knows Adam best out of them all, but it's hard to pick out when the guy is joking around, with how stone-faced he is. 'Adam is a nice guy, his patience is legendary. Don't worry about him being pissed over little mistakes,' Andrew had said.

'Time to find out if Andrew's saying the truth,' Ryan mutters, pushing the door open. He's greeted with Adam in a t-shirt and jeans, with headphones in as he's editing a certain video. 'Hey, Steven said you wanted to talk?' He asks, loud enough for Adam to hear without taking the headphones off. Adam gives him a small smile, gesturing for him to sit down, 'yeah, actually,' Adam sighs, his voice was always soft — not that Ryan had ever heard him utter more than a few words to either of the  _Worth It_ boys. 'An old friend of mine from high school needs you to do a favour for her boyfriend. He's suffering from some sort of insomnia, and can't really stay asleep for long hours. Recently, though, she found out that he was able to fall asleep long enough for the night to pass.' Adam explains briefly, his posture slightly caved in. 

'Okay. . .?' Ryan isn't sure how he's related to this. Running through the words once more, a small idea starts to form in his head. 'He's able to sleep because he's tuning into  _Unsolved?'_ Adam nods, large eyes thankful. 'She asks if it's okay for you to record yourself reading some stories so he's able to keep up the sleep schedule. Normally, with the number of sessions your show has, this would be unnecessary, but  _Supernatural_ aggravates him; he's running on  _True Crime.'_ Immediately, Ryan sees the problem, 'we don't have that many sessions, oh my God — we have to do something? I mean, he's having some insomnia problems, right? And, I guess, my "theory voice" helps him fall asleep; and stay asleep.' Adam smiles a little wider. 

There isn't a linger of hesitance before Ryan readily agrees. 'I mean, why not? I'm able to help someone! That's — it's great! What do I read though?  _Aesop's 656 fables?_ _Pride and Prejudice?'_ Adam stares at him blankly, 'or maybe I should just air more  _True Crime?_ There is an endless list of them, anyways, so I would never run out!'

'Uh,' his colleague states dumbly, 'why not I ask my friend and see what her reply is? I, I didn't really think you would agree.' Ryan's elation dies a little at that statement, 'why wouldn't I? If my show makes a difference to even  _one_ person, then it gives me even  _more_ reason to do it!' Adam blinks again, and smiles softly, 'yeah, that — that sounds like you. Thanks again, Ryan, I'll get back to you ASAP.' Grinning, Ryan leaves, mind racing with the different titles he could read, or the different cases he could investigate. 

God, this was going to be a blast!

 

* * *

 

 

**Adam: Ryan agreed to recording stories. He asks if your boyfriend has any preferences. Also, he just sent me an entire month's schedule of True Crime. He says that he's willing to do True Crime every night.**

Sara nearly screams during dinner, she stiffens up entirely, dropping her fork onto the table as she stares at her phone. 'Holy shit, holy shit, holy  _shit, Shane!'_ She grabs his right arm, shaking it with strength she didn't know she possessed.  Shane, for the most part, was confused and very worried. 

'Sara? Sara, what's wrong?' He places a hand over her shoulder, trying to get her to look him in the eye. 'Sara, you're worrying me.' She can barely conceal her joyous laughter. 

'Ryan's agreed to help you, Shane!'

'Ryan? Who's Ryan?' The confusion increases tenfold. Shane doesn't know any "Ryan"s, 'who are you talking about?'

'Ryan Bergara! The guy who hosts  _Unsolved!'_

'Wait, what?!' Shane exclaims, 'you — you asked  _Ryan Bergara_ to help  _me?_ Oh, Sara! How much trouble have we caused the poor guy? Doesn't he have  _Supernatural_ and  _True Crime_ to cover?' Shane is tugging at the roots of his hair, panic edging in slowly. Sara sighs, pulling Shane in for a hug, 'Shane, I think — I think you've suffered enough, don't you think so? We're going to owe him so  _much,_ but he's already on board. You finally have a sleep schedule! It would be great to maintain it. Shane, please, let's try it out; alright?' 

There's a flicker of contemplation in Shane's face, his brown eyes catching the light of the dying sun. 'How am I ever going to pay him back?' Sara lightens up, 'you have lots of time to think about that, Shane.' 

 

 

_'Alright — there's going to be some changes around here. I know that we're all used to True Crime and Supernatural airing at different times; but starting next week, True Crime is going to be airing alongside Supernatural. I've received a few complaints that airing Supernatural at its given time slot is creepy — which is the whole reason why it's aired at that time — so I've decided to air Supernatural in the afternoon, and True Crime will be later in the night. More info will be coming out soon, check out our official social medias to find out more! I've gotta go off soon, or else Steven will have my head for cutting into his hour! Bye, Ryan — out!'_

Ryan's voice rings through the apartment, Shane finds himself seeking out the voice more and more often these days. He hates that he's become dependant on Ryan, but he doesn't have much of a choice. Ever since he was a wee kid, he'd had the issue of not being able to sleep like a normal person. At the age of four, he started taking sleeping pills. At age nineteen, his body grows immune to sleeping pills, leaving him to chase sleep infinitely. But there's something about Ryan's voice that calms his overdriven mind, getting him to relax enough for sleep to overtake him. 

Shane will forever be in Ryan's debt — that much is sure. Just a day ago, Shane had received a package from the man. In it were three thumb drives in different shades. A note was attached. 

**Hey!**

**Ryan here! I hope the package was received in one piece!**

**I'm really sorry I'm unable to transition Unsolved faster, so I hope these three thumb drives would be enough to keep you asleep for long enough, buddy! The red one is Aesop's fables, with every single one recorded separately so whenever you feel like listening to a particular one, you could just select it from the files. The one in black is the entirety of the Twilight Saga, because I'm a little bit of an asshole, and it was kinda funny recording that in my Theory Voice (TM). The brown one with the little koi fish sticker is every single True Crime session to date, which are completely ad-free, so you won't wake up to hearing some stupid ad about insurance or some crap like that.**

**I hope you rest well.**

**Your friend,**

**Ryan Bergara.**

**P.S I've been told your name is Shane Madej? How do you pronounce your last name?**

Ryan had agreed to help Shane less than a week ago! Was this guy some wizard or something? There was no way he could have found the time to record and edit that many voice clips. The more Shane stares at the three thumb drives, the more he feels like laughing. 

'Unbelievable! Honestly!' He chuckles. 

That night, he listens to Ryan trying to be a good narrator for the Twilight Saga, and ends up waking up the next morning with tears in his eyes.

 

* * *

 

'Hey guys! Welcome back to  _True Crime!'_ Ryan greets cheerily, spinning in his chair a little as he feels the Twitter live feed star buzzing. 'Tonight marks the night we air both renditions of  _Unsolved_ together! I'm, honestly speaking, not over this afternoon's session.' He laughs nervously, shifting in his seat. 'All that aside, the reason why I'm doing this is to help a friend out; so for all of you out there on the Internet thanking God for another season of  _True Crime_ this quick, please feel free to also thank one of my newest friends, Shane Madej, for pushing forward this season and getting  _Supernatural_ in the same bundle!' There is a flurry of activity going on the live feed, with most tweets thanking Shane and praising him as a new god, as well as many  _"#weloveyoushane"_ tweets to appear. He wheezes, 'oh, God, Shane! When you go onto Twitter tomorrow, don't be shocked that  _#weloveshane_ is trending, buddy! Anyways, today's crime is gonna be a  _loooong_ one; many of you have been requesting this: we're embarking on cracking who killed Jon Benet!' He pauses, letting the words sink in for a second, before speaking up again. 

'Before I go, though, I just wanted to say a quick "good night" to Shane! Sleep well, Madej!' 

With that, the show goes on as usual.

 

 

The listeners  _adore_ Shane. Not only did the man bring back  _True Crime_ faster, but he also tunes into  _Supernatural_ every week, live-tweeting on why he thinks whatever Ryan is saying is absolute cow dung, and the listeners find their dynamics amusing.  

'I hate how you and Shane are better friends than you and I,' Steven grumbles, slumped over his desk, 'and you have never even  _met_ him before! Like, you've seen pics but never heard his voice? I'm jealous. Ryan, I want an Internet friend too.' Ryan snorts, 'yeah? Well, what about talking to Adam? See if he has any other people to introduce to you.' Steven pouts, dark eyes cheeky,  _'Andrew!_ Ryan's — ' Ryan scrambles to cover his mouth before the Scandinavian male could hear Steven. 'No! I  _don't_ want to die in Andrew's hands, you hear me?' Steven begins to giggle, causing Ryan to laugh lightly.

'Ryan, may I have a moment with you?' Ned Fulmer, one of the major executives of their company, stands over them. His blond hair is immaculate as always, and the friendly smile that makes him, easily, one of the most approachable execs, is stretched wide across his face. 

Ryan gulps, nodding. They slowly untangle, with Steven slipping by Ned and running back to his desk. 'Why not we talk in my office? It's rather important.'  _Oh God, what have I done?_ 'So, we — and by "we", I mean Eugene, Keith, Zach and I — have made a peculiar discovery. You dedicate every single one of your sessions to a man named "Shane Madej", bidding him good night every  _True Crime,_ and bantering with him every  _Supernatural._ Now,' they breeze past the pantry and into the Try Guys' part of the office, the Guys being the big four execs; Ryan's little heart is going insane.

'We don't mind our radio hosts having fun on the job —that's a given,' Ned continues, 'however, it will come as a sort of small concern when we realise that a man named Shane Madej emailed me a few hours ago, requesting that you're given more opportunities, more slots, maybe even a pay raise, for all that you've done for him.' Ryan stops in his tracks. 'What,' he croaks out. 

Ned turns back to face him, his back to his own office door. 'What I'm saying is:  _Unsolved_ can be branched out even further; you'll get your own producer, a , maybe even a co-host, if you want.' 

Ryan feels his soul leave his body and enter an astral plane. 'So, am I allowed to do sports conspiracies?' Ned laughs, leaning against the wall, 'whatever you want, buddy.' 

The realisation hits him slowly, but soon enough, his entire face lights up with excitement and he's  _this_ close to hugging Ned; except everyone knows the only Try Guy one can hug is Zach, so he resorts to just whooping really loudly and thanking Ned.

 

* * *

 

 

'Hello everyone! Welcome back to  _Unsolved: True Crime!_ I'm your host, Ryan Bergara! I'm seeing loads of new, and old, names on the live feed right now. How is everyone? A massive earthquake tore through the Pacific, affecting tons of people living in Central America. Are you all alright?' He sees replies of "we're alright!" and "praying for all those affected" on the live feed. TJ, his cameraman, sends out his own tweet of the studio set. 'Alright, listener and viewer numbers have increased a little, so we'll be starting the discussion soon!' 

Checking through his research notes one last time, Ryan takes a sip of water. 'Shane, have a good night's rest! See you next week on  _Supernatural!_ You're gonna  _love_ what I have planned. . . '

The session goes on as scheduled; Shane Madej is slowly falling asleep on his couch, peace on his face

**Author's Note:**

> tbh, i fall asleep listening to jacksepticeye game playthroughs.


End file.
